Reception without dinner?

Can you cater from a cheap restaurant? i cant imagine being a guest and going to a wedding without food lol plus people will be drinking so i dont know if i would want them to get into their cars to go drive around for dinner and then who knows when they will come back or they may head straight home afterwards.... also if you decide to do that you should write on the invitations theres no dinner. i generally dont ever walk with a wallet at a wedding so i wouldnt have any money to go out and buy food. lol

I think people wont be happy. It doesnt need to be anything grand. Im doing build your own tacos lol. Even like having sandwhiches and salad or if you have access to a grill burgers and hot dogs and some bbq like stuff. M&M meatshop used to have a pretty cheap box of like a couple hundred burgers and they were pretty good. They are pre-cooked so you can even microwave them. If the venue wont allow you to bring your own food maybe talk to a few restraunts about getting coupons for your wedding guests. But whatever you do make it obvious to your guests what is happening.

Your thoughts of serving meal isn't planned out the way the guests would see it. It would be better to indicate on your invitation that meals are not provided. An alternative to provide is lunch right after the ceremony and have it as pot luck style to avoid any issues about not hearing what's happening for food. Something to think about and paper plates/cups/cutlery and pop/juice to serve your guests on your end to bring.

Congratulations on your engagement. Planning a wedding is supper fun and super stressful.

Catering is extremely expensive, but at the same time not serving a meal is a bit different. If I was stuck in this position, I would only have handful of people at my service. Then have a great evening party with friends and other relatives.

I would not invite guest for a full day wedding break and then go back and not feed them. So having a great cocktail party that would start after supper would be the way to go.

Okay, just my opinion, but if you're inviting all your guests to the ceremony, and it starts at 4, then you should be feeding them a meal, not just snacks.

I've been to a wedding that did a snack bar (finger food...chicken wings, sliders, poutine, nachos). A lot of guests were pretty miffed at this. Most barely ate anything because it was snack food, and not a meal (doesn't feel right to take more than small taste of everything). I didn't realize how hungry I was until way later when all the food was put away. Hungry guests are not happy guests.

An option would be If you're doing just an intimate ceremony with close family, THEN inviting more people later for a "cocktail reception". My fiance's cousin did this, and it was really nice. Bit more casual. They had passed appetizers, then did a taco bar and a dessert bar.

Personally....I think its in poor taste to not provide a meal if you're expecting your guests at both the ceremony and the reception (even if there's time to grab something in between. Some wont).

The only sure fire way to save money is to invite less people.

Depending where you are getting married outside catering can be cheaper though. I am paying less than $20/person for supper (250 people still makes it pricey).

Just make sure to give recommendations as to where they could go and also remember that this will have an impact on the presentation that you receive (or don't). Usually people pay for the meal, drinks - if it's open bar, and a little gift for the happy couple if they can afford it.

I am attending a wedding in a couple weeks that is (sort of) set up like this, without snacks though. Ceremony at 3pm, Dance at 8pm. DIY dinner in between and its out of town. I am not really impressed, nor is quite alot of my extended family. (This is a cousins wedding). They did it to save on budget but it just feels inconvenienced and out of sorts. Which is ALL FAIR, their wedding, their choice etc. I will still attend, and I think the plan is for my family to arrange a dinner ourselves to visit etc. I will not be contributing a cash gift as others have mentioned below.

I think for sure do whatever feels best, but there is a lot of negativity around not providing some kind of meal. I agree with the ideas to source out a food truck, or do a cocktail reception etc. I mean you are at least planning to provide snacks at 9pm, but that it still a couple hours after the start of reception which if you are serving drinks beforehand, and no food + liquor do not go well hand in hand.

Regardless, congratulations!!!!

I am doing this but I decided to get married later in the evening. The ceremony will be at 6h30 and then we are going to the reception where we will be serving late night snacks at 9h00 p.m ( poutine bar and nacho bar).

We are having dinner with my family and my wedding party at 4h30 to make sure that we eat before the ceremony.

However, I did go to one wedding in the past where the ceremony was at 4 and then we all went out for dinner and we went to the reception at 7pm. the only thing is, many people skipped the ceremony and just showed up for the reception!

Maybe a cocktail style reception might be cheaper? Or food trucks like what Becky mentioned

In house catering makes a huge difference- I have same amount of people and for the dinner it was almost 3k. I was in a wedding party recently and she did a food truck and it saved her huge time. If people are close they would have time to go home and eat then. I personally wouldn't be giving a gift if I came out of town then had to leave and get dinner as already pricy for coming out of town. I would make sure very aware on invites

I have heard of some people doing this- it kinda depends on out of town guests and so forth. If I was someone local but still drove an hour to get to you then told had to leave for dinner and pay out of pocket not sure how much would like that. I do get what your saying for budget wise because catering is a lot. Have you seen how much your snack bar is later? If its just as expensive or considered spending that on a smaller supper like food truck style with few items to choose from so cheaper. If you were going to do this- its needs to be stated on the invite or people might think they have to wait that long and it would be supper. I have went to weddings were there cocktail was that long and we ate around 7:30.